How Pole Walking Came into my Life...

I love to walk. It's an essential part of my life. I live in a beautiful place - Boulder, Colorado - where there are miles of hiking trails and walking/biking paths, in the city limits, foothills and the plains near my home. It also helps that I have had a dog to walk for the past 25 years. Three different dogs - Restless, Molly and now Rupert, a one-year old Black Lab with lots of energy to run off every day! And yet it's more than this too. Walking is something I return to, and also can't not do for very long. It soothes me, energizes me, and helps me to be clear and focused. It also is my preferred form of exercise. I may try to do other things, or think that I should, but somehow, I always return to walking.My love of walking is also part of what led me to walk the Camino de Santiago, a 800 kilometer sacred pilgrimage path in Europe. You may have heard of it from the recent movie called "The Way", with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. I have now walked different sections of this ancient path three different times, first in 2009, and then again in 2010 and 2012. I am a pilgrim!It was on my second pilgrimage that I was introduced to walking sticks.I had only been walking 6 or 7 days when I began to experience "walker's legs" or in other words, the worst case of shin splints that I had ever experienced. Every step, I was in excruciating pain all along my shins. I could not walk lightly enough. I had no idea what or why it was happening, but as often occurs on the Camino, I met a pilgrim who had experienced the exact same symptoms and shared with me what had helped her. She suggested that I use walking sticks because they would help to alleviate some of the pressure off of my legs.The next day I happened to walk through a mid-sized town that had a pilgrim's store with walking/hiking gear. I bought my first pair of sticks because I loved their color and the cork handles. It only took me a few kilometers before I fell in love with them, and used them for the remainder of my journey.Two years later, I found myself taking a Nordic Walking class, in spite of having already walked many kilometers using sticks. I now know that I took the class to meet my mentor, Jay Willey, to learn about KeenFit, and to share and teach pole walking to others. In the class, I not only loved learning the technique around Nordic Walking for myself, but also witnessing many members of the class get the opportunity to really walk again (not just to their car and back), and even more, to enjoy it! Soon after, I gave a pair of walking sticks to my father for his 80th birthday. He's had a sore knee and back, but is now walking again and loving it, thanks to his pair of KeenFit poles. He then shared the sticks with two of his 90 year old friends who are also walking again! During the fall of 2012, I walked my third Camino, and walked every one of the 300 kilometers with sticks in my hands. Given my experience as well as that of many others, I have now decided to teach and share the benefits of walking with sticks, and to be part of KeenFit's vision to raise the fitness level of North America and to create a Walking Revolution! I recently became a Certified KeenFit Instructor and am offering Walk Your Path Pole Walking Clinics and Clubs on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. I have also been leading women on sacred walks to labyrinths in the Boulder County area, and incorporating the sticks into our walks. We start out with a KeenFit Walking Clinic, and then proceed to walk several miles using our sticks, and getting a total body workout!! I would love to share these sticks and this amazing way to support your body and your health through incorporating pole walking into your walking practice!! Please contact me for more information!Solvitur Ambulando!** it is solved through walking